In Lin Ze's heart, the only person who can really deal with Confucian saints and Buddhas is the Taoist saint, and Zhuang Zhou, who has been newly promoted to the saint realm, is not even a little bit worse.
This idea originated from when he and Emperor Qin teamed up to plot against the saint. Lin Ze once deduced that there was a 50% chance that the Taoist saint would rush to Chang'an and save him from the hands of the Buddhist and Confucian saints.
As a result, Lin Ze miscalculated, and Tao Sheng chose to stand by and not go to Chang'an.
Zhuang Zhou was so stupid that he almost got trapped. If Lin Ze Liang hadn't found out and reminded him to leave Chang'an, Emperor Qin would not have shown mercy to Zhuang Zhou.
So when Lin Ze knew that there were signs of Buddha's comeback, the first thing he thought of was asking the Taoist Saint to come forward.
Lin Ze knew that he did not have enough weight in Tao Sheng's heart, so he wanted to get Zhuang Zhou together. Besides, it was in the interests of the Tao Palace to deal with the Buddha. Even if Tao Sheng did not take action, it would still be okay to give him some advice.
Unexpectedly, Zhuang Zhou rejected Lin Ze's proposal on the grounds that the information could not be confirmed.
Fortunately among the misfortunes, although Zhuang Zhou did not agree to go with Lin Ze to find the Taoist sage, he adopted another of his suggestions and controlled Maitreya Ksitigarbha under his nose.
Before making a decision, Zhuang Zhou might have been a little hesitant, but once he made up his mind, he acted very quickly, riding the wind and soaring into the sky.
Lin Ze was left aside, and Zhuang Zhou never thought of taking him with him.
Lin Ze was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly chased after him, shouting: "Brother, take me with you."
Zhuang Zhou stopped, looked at Lin Ze and frowned slightly: "Brother Yu is going to southern Xinjiang to bring Maitreya Ksitigarbha to Chang'an. It won't take too long. Junior brother doesn't have to follow you, right?"
Lin Ze shook his head slightly and said: "It seems that senior brother still believes that the disappearance of Guanyin has nothing to do with the Buddha. Otherwise, since he has doubts, how could he not be careful?"
"With the Buddha secretly watching, is Senior Brother confident that he can successfully bring Maitreya Ksitigarbha back to Chang'an?"
"Senior Brother, have you ever thought that the secret letter from Maitreya that Junior Brother received may be a conspiracy by Buddha? The purpose is to lure the tiger away from the mountain, deceive Senior Brother out of Chang'an, and then take revenge on Junior Brother me?"
Zhuang Zhou was stunned for a moment, with a thoughtful look on his face: "Junior brother's words seem to make some sense. If we say who the Buddha hates the most, junior brother is at least in the top three. He is better than Maitreya Ksitigarbha and his ilk."
"Junior brother, you might as well go with me. If you encounter an accident, you can still give me some advice."
As soon as he finished speaking, Zhuang Zhou stretched out his hand towards Lin Ze. The scene in front of Lin Ze was like a movie played at a thousand times speed, bizarre and ever-changing.
After the scene stabilized, Lin Ze felt his feet touch the ground and found himself standing in front of the Great Leiyin Temple.
Zhuang Zhou took a step forward, and an aura of sainthood enveloped the sky above the Great Leiyin Temple.
"Boooooooh"
Not long after, a sound broke through the air. Headed by Samantabhadra Manjusri, seven powerful Buddhists in the realm of gods and humans came to Zhuang Zhou with their hands clasped together and bowed: "The young monk and others pay their respects to the sage Zhuang Zhou."
Samantabhadra and Manjusri were very respectful and not unnatural, as if they had never heard that the Taoist palace had plotted against the Buddha.
Lin Ze realized that the believers at the bottom might be saddened by the Buddha's suffering and even commit martyrdom.
On the contrary, high-level Buddhists such as Manjushri and Samantabhadra accept this kind of thing very easily, and basically do not engage in any extreme behavior.
Probably because they know what kind of existence the Buddha is, when the sense of mystery disappears, they also lose the due awe.
Zhuang Zhou replied calmly: "No need to be polite."
Puxian asked with a smile on his face: "I wonder what the sage Zhuang Zhou is doing here?"
Zhuang Zhou calmly asked: "Where is Maitreya?"
Samantabhadra's smile did not diminish and he said: "It turns out that Zhuang Sheng came to see Lord Maitreya Buddha. Lord Maitreya Buddha followed the Buddha's decree to open up a Zen lineage and took a group of disciples to Yuzhang to preach."
"If Zhuang Sheng comes to see him in an emergency, he will have to go to Yuzhang."
Follow the Buddha's decree to open up a line of Zen Buddhism?
Lin Ze looked strange when he heard this. This Maitreya was really a talent, and he had to clean up his betrayal of Buddhism and establish his own sect.
The problem is that neither Puxian nor the others seem to think it's wrong.
No, it’s not that I feel something is wrong, but that Maitreya, Ksitigarbha and Avalokitesvara have all betrayed Buddhism. Samantabhadra, Manjusri and others consider themselves no match, so they can only admit it with their noses pinched.
When the day comes when the Buddha returns, he might jump out and denounce Maitreya and the others.
The high-level officials of the Buddhist sect were very good at adapting to the changing circumstances. Lin Ze praised them silently in his heart.
Zhuang Zhou's expression remained unchanged and he said: "Yuzhang is too big, please give me a specific position."
Samantabhadra and Manjusri looked at each other and said in unison: "Sage Zhuang, please forgive me. I don't know the specific location. The monk and others don't know."
Zhuang Zhou frowned slightly and was about to speak when he saw Lin Ze step forward, a trace of aura enveloped Puxian Manjusri, and said with a smile: "You two have a tacit understanding, do you really not know the specific location?"
As Lin Ze spoke out his words, the aura surrounding Samantabhadra and Manjusri became heavier and heavier, and it seemed that there would be no results for today's matter.
Puxian suddenly slapped his forehead and said: "King Qin's words remind this young monk that although there is no specific location, there is still a general location."
"Qiulong Mountain in Yuzhang County, Maitreya Buddha should be nearby."
Zhuang Zhou waved his hand, and a map was reflected in the air. He asked in a deep voice: "Point out the location of Qiulong Mountain."
Pu Xian was stunned for a moment, then pointed to a place.
Zhuang Zhou put away the map and pulled Lin Ze away.
After Zhuang Zhou Linze left, all the Buddhist heavenly beings suddenly breathed a sigh of relief. The pressure of the saint was too strong, and it was not something ordinary heavenly beings could withstand.
…
The scene changed again, Lin Ze and Zhuang Zhou came to the sky above a mountain forest.
Not surprisingly, this is the so-called vicinity of Qiulong Mountain in Yuzhang County.
At this time, Yuzhang County was completely uninhabited, with only birds and animals inhabiting it, and it was a truly undeveloped land.
Zhuang Zhou manifested the map again and seemed to be determining the location.
Lin Ze couldn't help but ask: "Senior brother, where did you get this map?"
Zhuang Zhou glanced at Lin Ze and said, "Isn't this something that my junior brother arranged for his subordinates to spend a lot of time drawing?"
Lin Ze touched his head and suddenly realized that Zhuang Zhou had memorized all the maps he had placed in his mansion.
As he spoke, Zhuang Zhou seemed to be sure that Qiulong Mountain was nearby. The aura of the saint realm burst out again, and he said loudly: "Where is Maitreya?"
The sound echoed among the mountains, endlessly.
After a while, a figure appeared in the forest, and then came to Lin Ze Zhuang Zhou, clasped his hands and said: "It turns out that it is Zhuang Sheng and King Qin who are arriving. I am a little disappointed to greet you from a distance. I hope you two can forgive me."
Lin Ze took out the secret letter he had received before from his sleeve and asked, "Is this letter written by Lord Maitreya?"
Maitreya nodded and said: "It was written by the young monk."
Lin Ze said quietly: "I wonder what Lord Maitreya has planned for this?"